A flat tire on a dark, lonely road. A blown fuse or tripped circuit breaker on a dark, stormy night. The desire to find a dropped object on the floor of a darkened theater. Many individuals have experienced one or more of these events. During these events, it many times seems inevitable that a flashlight is either unavailable or cannot be found. Moreover, if a flashlight is available or found, its batteries may be depleted. Thus, in recent years many manufacturers have developed and marketed compact flashlights that can be carried in, for example, a persons pocket or purse.
Many of the compact flashlights that are presently known include a light emitting diode (LED) that is powered from one or more small batteries. The LED and batteries are housed within a relatively small, compact housing that can easily fit in most pockets and/or purses. In addition, many presently known compact flashlights include a ring or other type of extension that allows the flashlight to be coupled to a key ring.
The presently known compact flashlights are convenient, safe, and relatively easy to use. Nonetheless, most suffer certain drawbacks. For example, while the rings and extensions allow for coupling to a key ring, most do not allow the flashlight to be coupled to other devices. Moreover, many of the rings and extensions do not include locks or other devices to inhibit accidental opening and detachment from the ring or extension. Furthermore, most compact flashlights presently do not include rotatable structures that allow the flashlight to be pointed in various directions, while resting on a surface.
In addition to the configurational drawback described above, it is noted that many of the present compact flashlights do not provide a convenient way to change the batteries. Indeed, if the batteries can be changed at all, in many instances this requires that the housing be disassembled and reassembled following battery replacement. This operation can be tedious, time confusing, difficult, and can also result in a loss of parts.
Yet another drawback of many presently known compact flashlights is the switches that are used to turn the LED on and off. In many cases, the switches are either permanent-type on/off switches, or momentary-type on/off switches. The permanent-type on/off switches are typically quite small, and can be difficult to operate. In addition, when the flashlights are assembled, precise positioning of the components within the housing, including the switch, is needed for proper operation. Thus, if the batteries are replaced, when the housing is reassembled the switch may fail, or may not operate properly upon reassembly of the housing.
Hence, there is a need for a compact flashlight that can be coupled to a key ring, as well as various other devices, and that includes a locking mechanism that inhibits accidental opening and detachment from the ring or extension, and/or is structurally configured to allow the flashlight to be pointed in numerous directions while resting on a surface, and/or allows for ease of battery replacement, and/or includes one or more switches that are easy to operate. The present invention addresses one or more of these needs.